Chot names RP team to Brunei Cup

RP coach Chot Reyes has named the players he’ll bring to Brunei for an invitational tourney from Aug. 20-28 which could serve as part of the final stages of their preparation for the Asia-Fiba championship in September — in case Fiba lifts its suspension of the Philippines and the country is allowed to compete in the Asian championship as wildcard entry.

Named to the RP squad for the fifth Shell Rimula Cup Brunei basketball tournament are Jimmy Alapag, Jayjay Helterbrand, Renren Ritualo, Dondon Hontiveros, Danny Seigle, Kenny Williams, Kerby Raymundo, Nic Belasco, Billy Mamaril, Romel Adducul, Dorian Peña and Asi Taulava.

Alapag will miss the first game of the team coming from Florida where he’s attending a basketball camp.

This will be the RP team’s third foreign stint in two months – part of Reyes’ long-term program geared towards a return stint by the Philippines in the Olympics in 2008.

Reyes and the national training pool continue to work hard in training although there’s no certainty when would the basketball crisis in the country be solved.

The lifting of the suspension of the Philippines in all Fiba-sanctioned tourneys is under appeal.

The PBA is also fielding Alaska Milk in the tourney that will also feature the Indonesian national team and club teams from Japan, Korea and China. They figure in a single-round-robin elimination with the top four teams to advance to the cross-over knockout semifinals. Winners play in a one-game final.

It is the same tournament participated in by Red Bull and Purefoods last year. The Barakos were almost sure to make the semifinals when they were disqualified from the tourney after figuring in a fracas with the Koreans.

The organizers, composed of Brunei-based Malaysians, reportedly met other problems because of the poor grasp of technical matters by the Brunei Basketball Association. Apparently, this prompted the organizers to invite neutral referees this time with the approval of the Brunei Sports Ministry.

PBA technical chief Perry Martinez has been invited to be part of the disciplinary committee with two PBA referees tapped to officiate in the tourney.

Participating teams are allowed to bring three imports, at the most, to play one game at a time. The RP team is playing without an import. Alaska coach Tim Cone is still looking for an import whom he will also field in the PBA Reinforced Conference starting Oct. 2.

Meanwhile, Talk n Text, besides sending some of its players to the US to attend camps, is going to Chinese-Taipei late this month to also play in an invitational tournament there.

Twice a finalist but never a winner last season, Talk n Text is looking to go all the way to win a championship this year. The management has revamped the coaching staff, signing Derek Pumaren as team consultant and recruiting Bong Ramos to be Joel Banal’s chief deputy.